Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASMARA83
2009-03-10 13:09:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Asmara
Cable title:
INCREASED CORRUPTION WITHIN THE ERITREAN POLICE
how-toR 101309Z MAR 09 FM AMEMBASSY ASMARA TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0210 INFO AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI AMEMBASSY LONDON AMEMBASSY PARIS CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL CIA WASHDC CJTF-HOA J2X CAMP LEMONIER DJ COMUSNAVCENT DIA WASHDC JICCENT MACDILL AFB FL HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE NSC WASHDC SECDEF WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000083
DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/AF, DS/TIA/ITA, DS/IP/SPC/SO, AF/E,
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2029
TAGS: ASEC PGOV ER
SUBJECT: INCREASED CORRUPTION WITHIN THE ERITREAN POLICE
Classified By: Ambassador Ronald K. McMullen for Reason 1.4 (d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000083
DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/AF, DS/TIA/ITA, DS/IP/SPC/SO, AF/E,
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2029
TAGS: ASEC PGOV ER
SUBJECT: INCREASED CORRUPTION WITHIN THE ERITREAN POLICE
Classified By: Ambassador Ronald K. McMullen for Reason 1.4 (d)
1. (C) Corruption within the Eritrean police continues to
increase as economic conditions within Eritrea worsen. The
police are conscripts who are paid between $5-$30 per month
and many are forced to live in barracks. These police
officers are unable to support their families, pay their
rent, or buy food and are increasingly turning to crime to
survive. A reliable embassy source told RSO the police are
increasingly taking bribes to let people out of jails in
Asmara, are stopping people on the street and demanding money
in order to avoid being arrested, and are robbing houses and
businesses during the nighttime hours. This source told RSO
many Eritreans are talking about this increase in corruption.
In one instance, two police officers recently went to a
video store and asked the merchant to duplicate a video tape.
Upon returning for their tape, they told the merchant the
tape was pornographic, which is illegal in Eritrea, and told
the merchant she could only avoid being arrested by paying
them $600. There are also increasing reports of sexual
assaults being carried out by police officers and soldiers in
Asmara. Thus far, the assaults have been limited to Eritrean
women during the nighttime hours in poorly lit areas.
2. (C) This criminal behavior is increasingly being condoned
by the rank and file police officers and seen as the only way
they can survive the tough economic conditions in Asmara.
Thus far, the police have been unable to stop this increasing
corruption and have responded by transferring officers caught
committing crimes or imprisoning them for short amounts of
time.
3. (C) Comment: The police have been unable to stop the
recent increase in crime in Asmara and are plagued by a
severe lack of resources. They have been unresponsive to
embassy requests for investigative assistance and have
refused to prosecute any persons caught committing crimes
against embassy personnel. In emergency situations the only
way they will respond is if the mobile patrol picks them up
and brings them to the scene of the emergency. The police do
not patrol embassy neighborhoods and are a poor deterrent to
crime during these current economic hardships. To date,
there have been no reports of Eritrean police soliciting
bribes or committing crimes against any Westerners or
diplomats.
MCMULLEN
DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/AF, DS/TIA/ITA, DS/IP/SPC/SO, AF/E,
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2029
TAGS: ASEC PGOV ER
SUBJECT: INCREASED CORRUPTION WITHIN THE ERITREAN POLICE
Classified By: Ambassador Ronald K. McMullen for Reason 1.4 (d)
1. (C) Corruption within the Eritrean police continues to
increase as economic conditions within Eritrea worsen. The
police are conscripts who are paid between $5-$30 per month
and many are forced to live in barracks. These police
officers are unable to support their families, pay their
rent, or buy food and are increasingly turning to crime to
survive. A reliable embassy source told RSO the police are
increasingly taking bribes to let people out of jails in
Asmara, are stopping people on the street and demanding money
in order to avoid being arrested, and are robbing houses and
businesses during the nighttime hours. This source told RSO
many Eritreans are talking about this increase in corruption.
In one instance, two police officers recently went to a
video store and asked the merchant to duplicate a video tape.
Upon returning for their tape, they told the merchant the
tape was pornographic, which is illegal in Eritrea, and told
the merchant she could only avoid being arrested by paying
them $600. There are also increasing reports of sexual
assaults being carried out by police officers and soldiers in
Asmara. Thus far, the assaults have been limited to Eritrean
women during the nighttime hours in poorly lit areas.
2. (C) This criminal behavior is increasingly being condoned
by the rank and file police officers and seen as the only way
they can survive the tough economic conditions in Asmara.
Thus far, the police have been unable to stop this increasing
corruption and have responded by transferring officers caught
committing crimes or imprisoning them for short amounts of
time.
3. (C) Comment: The police have been unable to stop the
recent increase in crime in Asmara and are plagued by a
severe lack of resources. They have been unresponsive to
embassy requests for investigative assistance and have
refused to prosecute any persons caught committing crimes
against embassy personnel. In emergency situations the only
way they will respond is if the mobile patrol picks them up
and brings them to the scene of the emergency. The police do
not patrol embassy neighborhoods and are a poor deterrent to
crime during these current economic hardships. To date,
there have been no reports of Eritrean police soliciting
bribes or committing crimes against any Westerners or
diplomats.
MCMULLEN